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God's Word in Battle with Homosexual Temptation

This article is the follow-up that I said in Sunday’s message (August, 8 2004) I would like to write. I spoke from Romans 12:2 and 1:23-28 on discerning the will of God in relation to homosexuality and the political situation surrounding so-called “homosexual marriage”—which I argued does not and cannot exist, no matter what any human court says.

A couple weeks earlier we had received at Desiring God an email from a man in the UK in response to the internet Desiring God Radio broadcasts on homosexuality. This man’s story is relevant because it shows

that the almighty mercy of God can break into a person’s life in an utterly unexpected way through a message on the internet;

that homosexual desires can be changed;

that Christ is at work redemptively around the world in ways beyond our small plans; and

that we should be praying earnestly and constantly for thousands of people like Daniel (not his real name).

The first email below is his permission to use the second one and sets the stage, making it even more remarkable.

—Pastor John

Email #1

As far as quoting my emails or doing whatever you want to do, please feel free.

I have to say, if I was some wholesome church-goer then I probably wouldn’t have bothered sending you a message in the first place. But the truth is, I have never attended a single church service in the history of my life. So, for something like your show to have such a radical impact on my life is pretty amazing—at least, by my standards. Who would have thought that the Internet (of all things!) could turn out to be such an effective platform for sending out the Good Word?

Your show is touching the hearts of many skeptics out there who, like myself, have spent most of their adult lives running away from God. Take care and once again, please keep up the good work!

Email #2

I’m Daniel. I’m 28 years old and I live in the UK. I wanted to give you a little feedback on how your broadcasts have affected my life. In particular I want to discuss your recent broadcasts on the subject of homosexuality. This is all rather shameful and embarrassing to admit, but in the recent times I have been entertaining homosexual fantasies in my mind. I live on my own and on Friday night of last week, after much planning and excitement, I switched on my computer, plugged in my brand new webcam and attempted to log onto a gay chatroom (with video conferencing!). I’m sure I don’t need to go into any detail but as you can probably imagine, I had well and truly set course on what would have been a rather godless weekend (that may well have even resulted in some kind of meet up with another guy from my area).

I have to tell you what happened. Seconds before being logged into this gay room something in my mind (I can’t say it was literally a voice, but certainly a thought) seemed to whisper “go to Desiring God and listen”. Anyway, for a guy in my position this was certainly the LAST thing that I would have wanted to do but in order to at least shut my mind up I quickly visited your website.

I was, of course, surprised to find out that you were discussing homosexuality that week (I was by no means a regular listener and I am not even a church-goer!). Anyway, I had a listen and I can tell you that after hearing your message something radical seemed to stir within me. The effects were powerful and instant.

Instead of logging onto the gay chatroom, I literally smashed up my webcam and threw it in the bin. I apologize for being crude but this was much more than the result of a rational decision in my mind. I also felt at that moment that all of a sudden, my unclean homosexual desires were instantly destroyed along with my webcam. This was, I believe, a physical, mental and spiritual shift.

Anyway, at the time of writing I can honestly say that not only have I not logged onto any internet chat rooms at all, but just the thought of having a sexual experience with another man makes me feel sick. I can’t say for sure what has happened, but I believe that Jesus Christ is working through your radio broadcasts in ways that none of us can fully understand. . . .

—Daniel

John Piper (@JohnPiper) is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is author of more than 50 books.

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